Friday, May 31, 2013

Academy Award winner William Peter Blatty, whose best-selling book and blockbuster film The Exorcist were situated at his alma mater, Georgetown University, announced today that he has delivered a “Petition” on behalf of more than 1200 alumni, students, parents, teachers, and other laity from around the world. The “Petition” prays that the Catholic Church will grant several remedies, including, if made necessary, the removal or suspension of top-ranked Georgetown’s right to call itself Catholic and Jesuit in its fundraising and representations to applicants. The Petition cites a Vatican Decree issued on July 11, 2012, at the request of the Archbishop of Lima, that ordered the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru, a very prominent Latin American university, to cease calling itself “Catholic” and “Pontifical” while declaring that it continued to be ecclesiastical property and subject to the requirements of Church law. On the order of Pope Benedict XVI, the Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, based the decision on the university’s failure to comply with Ex corde Ecclesiae, the 1990 Apostolic Constitution for Catholic Universities and that the University of Lima persists “in continuing to orient its institutional initiatives according to standards that are inconsistent with the norms and morality of the Church.”

Georgetown University is, likewise, Church property legally entrusted to the Society of Jesus nearly 200 years ago and to a civil corporation that administers it. Georgetown also received a pontifical charter that has never been abrogated.

The Georgetown effort was first announced two months before the Peru decree, on the heels of an unprecedented rebuke of Georgetown and its first lay president by His Eminence, Donald Cardinal Wuerl, the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Washington, over Georgetown’s invitation to HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius to be a graduation ceremony speaker in may 2013.

Despite this and two petitions collecting almost 60,000 voices, Georgetown did not relent. The editors of the Archdiocesan newspaper wrote in an editorial then regarding Georgetown: “When the vision guiding university choices does not clearly reflect the light of the Gospel and authentic Catholic teaching, there are, of course, disappointing results.” The Father Kings Society’s Canon Law action, based on Georgetown’s failure for more than two decades to comply with the requirements of Ex corde Ecclesiae, was being planned even before the Sebelius scandal.

“The Scandals that Georgetown has given to the faithful are too many to count, and too many to ignore any longer,” Blatty said. “Today Georgetown is the Borgia university, reflecting more the spirit of Alexander VI, than of Archbishop John Carroll, John Henry Cardinal Newman, or Pope John Paul II. Georgetown hardly reflects that St. Ignatius who stood preaching in the pouring rains of Paris to stop young men from losing their souls for the sake of carnality,” Blatty said.

Middle East expert Jesuit Father Samir Khalil Samir, who teaches at the
University of Beirut. "Many people in Lebanon are concerned because the
conflict in Syria is becoming more like a conflict between Shiites and
Sunnis. These are the two main currents in Islam. In Lebanon, it is also
noticeable that the Shiite Hezbollah behave more aggressively than
before towards the Sunni Lebanese.

In the north of Lebanon - that is, in
the city of Tripoli - there are already skirmishes every day leaving
people dead. Also in the south of Beirut, there are acts of violence.
These are all signs that are to be taken seriously. "the wave of
violence in Syria is not just for the neighbours of Lebanon and Syria a
problem, says Father Samir Khalil.

"In the Arab world, there are more
divisions and conflicts than ever before. This is due to the
radicalization of Islam in the region. This is the basic problem in the
Arab world, which one has to actually tackle. It is not important
whether one is in Iraq, Egypt or Syria. This radicalization has its
roots in the attitude of Israel and its Western allies, for example in
relation to occupied territories, such as the Golan Heights, which
actually by international law belong to Syria. "

While the settlement doesn't name any priests accused of abusing minors who have not been previously disclosed to the public, it did name a number of Jesuit superiors who kept Fr. McGuire's crimes a secret and, the victims' attorneys said, which enabled him to abuse more young men.

"Jesuits made choices time and time again that demonstrated willful indifference," said Jeff Anderson, the plaintiffs' attorney. "Not one Jesuit official has yet to be prosecuted for their complicity in these crimes." To date, lawyers have identified 28 men who have alleged abuse by Fr. McGuire from the 1960s until 2004. Eight have filed lawsuits.
Fr. McGuire's presence at the school as Link (here) to Catholic Education Daily

Georgetown University Law Center adjusted its grading policy in 2009.
Prior to the change, 10% of law students received an A, 15% received an A-, 15% received a B-, and 5% received a C+ or below.
Now, 12% get an A, 19% get an A-, and only 5-10% get a B- or below.
It puts failure that much further out of reach.

The authorities at the Basilica of Bom Jesus in Old Goa have begun loaning shawls to visitors at the Basilica who are dressed inappropriately and wish to see the interiors of the 16th century baroque-styled monument. Church authorities or volunteers have now begun screening tourists before they enter the Basilica and those who are found dressed inappropriately are given a shawl which they will have to wear and return once they conclude their visit to the Jesuit monument housing the sacred relics of Jesuit saint and patron of the missions ~ St Francis Xavier.

The
rule applies for both men and women, given that it was found that it
was not only women who dress scantily but men too saunter in wearing
singlet and are made to either wear a shirt if they have one or a
shawl.

Speaking
to Herald, Rector of the Basilica Fr Savio Barreto, S.J. said that the move
was a result of a decision taken ‘long ago’ following complaints from
the faithful that it was unacceptable and portrayed a complete lack of
respect and decorum on the part of the tourists, both in their attire as
well as their talk as it was not in keeping with the decorum of the
place.

“This
was something we had said we would do and would put up boards that all
tourists should be dressed appropriately if they wish to enter the
Basilica. Many people had complained that the tourists were not dressing
properly and were offended by it,”

Fr Barreto said adding that the
shawls were being handed over by the volunteers at the Basilica.

More than a year ago, the church authorities had installed a signboard asking tourists to dress appropriately and maintain decorum. However, the written directions did not work, bringing about the need to give shawls to the tourists. Tourists are sometimes attired in beachwear since they come to the basilica as part of all Goa sightseeing tours that cover several locations including beaches in a single day. Many of these tours coincide with religious
services that are conducted at the churches.Link (here)

Wednesday, May 29, 2013

What’s wrong with this picture? Federal agents raid a Catholic university in the state of Washington, and find a trove of child pornography, purchased with the credit card of a professor—who happens to be a Jesuit priest.

Father Gary Uhlenkott, S.J. is now on leave, as the federal investigation continues. We don’t know all the details, but federal officials say that more than $1,600 of porn was ordered with his credit-card account and shipped to his physical and/or internet address.

Horrifying? Certainly. A scandal? No doubt. But let me take a different perspective on this wretched affair. Leave aside, for now, the question of Father Uhlenkott’s guilt or innocence. Here’s what I want to know: How could he (or someone using his identity) spend $1,600 on videos of any description, without attracting someone’s attention? Can you, dear reader, spend $1,600 on your own entertainment—even assuming it’s healthy, licit entertainment—without prompting questions from your spouse, your boss, your parents, your colleagues, or your accountant? I certainly can’t. And unlike Father Uhlenkott, I haven’t taken a vow of poverty.

The U.S. bishops' conference has named a Jesuit known for conventional views on marriage and sexuality as its new doctrinal watchdog, replacing a key staffer behind several controversial criticisms of theologians in recent years. Fr. Peter Ryan, S.J. will become executive director of the bishops' secretariat of doctrine and canonical affairs in August, the conference announced Wednesday.

The appointment, which comes as the bishops' conference prepares a change in its top leadership in the fall, may be a sign of what stance the bishops will take toward those who hold more progressive viewpoints under the new pontificate of Pope Francis.

A PRIEST from Mossend who once hosted regular working lunches for Pope John Paul II has died aged 83 after a period of ill health. Fr Clarence Gallagher SJ was described by one Vatican observer as ‘possibly the most outstanding British Jesuit of his generation’ A former pupil of Holy Family Primary School and Our Lady’s High School, Motherwell, Fr Clarence had for some years lived at the Corpus Christi Jesuit retirement community in Boscombe, near Bournemouth. His funeral mass was celebrated there and a memorial service will be held at Holy Family Church in Mossend on Monday, June 3, at 7pm. Fr Gallagher’s sister, Mary, a retired doctor, still lives in Mossend. Fr Clarence studied for the priesthood in Rome, but rather than be ordained for the new Diocese of Motherwell in 1948 he joined the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) after completing a three-year course in philosophy. Later he took degrees in classics and education at Oxford before, aged 33, being ordained a Jesuit priest. He then studied the church’s Canon Law, excelling in the subject and teaching it in Rome. During a spell back in Scotland, he was parish priest at St Aloysius in Glasgow, headmaster at the Jesuits College and a judge in the Scottish National Marriage Tribunal.

In 1985 Fr Gallagher was recalled to Rome and appointed lecturer in Canon Law at the Pontifical Oriental Institute which involved working with the Eastern Rite Catholic Churches which were then in full communion with Rome.

In 1990 Pope John Paul II named him rector of the institute. The following year Fr Gallagher founded Centro Aletti, a centre for study and research aligned with the mission of the Society of Jesus at the Pontifical Oriental Institute. It was for scholars and artists with a Christian perspective from Central and Eastern Europe, giving them the chance to meet with their Western colleagues. Its aim, in Pope John Paul II’s words at the official opening, is to ‘create privileged opportunities for meetings and exchanges on the subject of Christianity in East Europe’. Working lunches involving the pope were a regular occurrence at this time. Fr Gallagher was principal adviser to the Vatican’s team of prelates during fruitful negotiations with the Malankara Syrian Orthodox Church on the vexed question of inter-church marriages.

In 1998 Fr Clarence declined Rome’s invitation to head a visitation of the Catholic Churches in India. However, he was in a delegation to Bulgaria ahead of Pope John Paul II’s successful visit to the former communist country.

The Bishops of the region of Tavoliere met recently with Pope Francis on an ad limina visit. On their return Il Foglio, in the article: La messa antica non si tocca, il Papa gesuita spiazza ancora tutti("The old mass is not to be touched, the Jesuit Pope wrong-foots everyone")
home, one has given a fascinating glimpse of the
attitude of Pope Francis to those who are seeking to use the
opportunity of his papacy to attack the traditional Mass. This is
reported in the Italian paper

Here is my translation of the relevant part of the article which tells
of other bishops raising concerns with the Holy Father and goes on to
speak of the intervention concerning the old Mass:

Then it was the turn of the bishop of Conversano and Monopoli, Domenico Padovano, who recounted to the clergy of his diocese how the priority of
the bishops of the region of Tavoliere had been that of explaining to
the Pope that the mass in the old rite was creating great divisions
within the Church. The underlying message: Summorum Pontificum should be cancelled, or at least strongly limited. But Francis said no.

Mgr Padovano explained that Francis replied to them saying that they
should be vigilant over the extremism of certain traditionalist groups
but also suggesting that they should treasure tradition and create the
necessary conditions so that tradition might be able to live alongside
innovation.

This is not really a surprise (did anyone expect that Pope Francis would somehow "repeal" Summorum Pontificum?) but it is a welcome confirmation of what we would all expect.

Getting back to liberation theology, does Bergoglio reject holus-bolus everything about liberation theology?El Jesuita, Bergoglio says liberation theology had its pros and cons: the “pro” being its expression of what’s called the “preferential option for the poor,” the “con” being its “ideological deviations.” Well, that’s very close to the assessment expressed in the two “Instructions on Liberation Theology” published by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in 1984 and 1986.
In the interview-book

And who is the Argentine Jesuit that our NYT friends have in mind? In all probability (because there’s really no other candidate), the reference is to Juan Carlos Scannone, S.J., who taught Bergoglio Greek and literature in the seminary.

The difficulty with the Times’ claim, however, is that Scannone isn’t much of a liberation theologian. In fact Scannone has written papers emphasizing where his thought differs from the liberationists. In a 2011 interview, for example, Scannone himself said: “Myself, I‘ve never had anything to do with Marxism.” Scannone specifies that the primary difference between his thought and that of the liberationists is, to use his words, his theology “has neither used Marxist methodology for analyzing reality nor categories taken from Marxism.” Instead, Scannone is best known in Argentina for developing what’s called a teología del pueblo(theology of the people) — something, he says, that is viewed positively by Rome and which Bergoglio has praised on numerous occasions. It’s a theology that takes seriously the popular spirituality and often deeply traditional piety of ordinary people — the kind of thing that’s often the subject of much condescending commentary by your average German progressive theologian but which was also regarded by liberationists such as the late Fr. Juan Luis Segundo, S.J. as a mass phenomenon incapable of fostering revolutionary change, making it an obstacle to “progress.”

But the teología del pueblo, Scannone specifies, also draws considerable inspiration from Paul VI’s 1975 apostolic exhortation Evangelii Nuntiandi. In that sense, Scannone argues, the theology of the people represents “a journey of return between Latin America and Rome.” Here it’s worth noting that Evangelii Nuntiandi firmly rejected — over and over and over again — politicized concepts of Christian liberation and underscored that the Church “refuses to replace the proclamation of the kingdom by the proclamation of forms of human liberation.”

Practically speaking, the teología del pueblo that’s alive and well in Argentina tends to be translated into bottom-up and locally based approaches to poverty. It also rejects calls for class struggle and Sandinista-style revolution. And while adherents of teología del pueblo in Argentina certainly insist on a great deal of government intervention, they also firmly reject top-down paternalism — something no doubt reinforced by the populist and statist policies pursued by the Krichners that have wreaked havoc upon Argentina’s economy over the past ten years. But if you want to get a sense of where Francis may take the Catholic Church regarding social and economic issues, you needn’t waste your energy toiling through texts like Boff’s Church: Charism and Power. Instead, pick up a copy of the concluding document of the Fifth General Conference of the Consejo Episcopal Latino Americano held at Aparecida in 2007.

Pope Francis has said that the Devil “hates” us. Blunt words. Francis is not talking about some inert “lack.” He is talking about a positive hating of the good because it is good. Only persons can hate. Lucifer is an angelic being who rejects God by calling good evil, by convincing other rational beings to change good into evil. Classical ethics and moral philosophy gave us accounts of virtues and vices. Usually two vices existed for every virtue, a too much and a too little. We find in the writings of Plato a sense that our vices are not just foibles or mistakes but objects of judgment. Plato rightly worried that the world was created in injustice if the vices were not ultimately punished. This consideration led him to propose the immortality of the soul to guarantee that no one could get away with doing evil, even if he died in human glory but covered with sins.

Christianity provided a more profound explanation of evil, though one not necessarily disagreeing with Plato. Christ affirmed that the Devil’s kingdom could not stand if it had dissention within its rank. This information means, as I understand it, that we find both a logical sequence of disorders, or deviations from the good, as Aristotle understood, and an active presence. This logic works through willing human beings who find themselves assenting to a step-by-step deviation from the good, each worse than the one before.

Those familiar with spiritual literature recall that the Church Fathers warned monks that sin begins with things only slightly off-center. Yet things do not stand still. Either the evil is recognized and corrected or the next logical step away from the good is taken. Eventually this leads to calling of evil good, all in the name of pursuing some good but in a manner contrary to reason or the commandments.

Tuesday, May 28, 2013

St. Ignatius of Loyola sent people on mission with this instruction: “Go, set the whole world on fire and in flame.” Fueling destruction was not on his mind. He had already seen enough of the travesty of war, having been seriously wounded in the Battle of Pamplona in 1521. Rather, he was concerned with fomenting desire for God and passion for the gospel. History tells us that his Society of Jesus was an ardent mission movement, proclaiming grace and forgiveness in places newly discovered in the 16th century.

Stirring into flame this “holy longing” to love God and serve expansively depends upon receptivity to the Spirit of God. It is the Spirit within who wills to work through us for God’s good purposes. Yet, many Christians regard the listing ways of the Spirit with suspicion, perhaps because we can never control holy presence.

The celebration of Pentecost is gaining ground among Baptists as we become more acquainted with the rhythms of the Christian year. Wearing hues of orange and red, hearing Scripture read in several languages, viewing moving streamers, reminiscent of wind, flames and tongues, will add a rather exotic touch to worship this coming Sunday. The more liturgical pastors will wear their bright red stoles, looking combustible as they seek once more to describe the coming of the Spirit.........Anywhere persons are growing in generosity, as St. Ignatius prayed, to “give without counting the cost.” Anywhere persons are laboring without expecting any reward other than to hear, “Well done, good and faithful servant.” Is God’s Spirit as active today as in the early fervor of proclaiming the resurrected Lord? Yes, if we are willing to make room for the Spirit. The Holy Spirit is God present with us, transforming us to live into the patterns of resurrection so that our hearts burn within us for the sake of the world as we travel in Christ’s company. Come Holy Spirit; set our hearts on fire.

Monday, May 27, 2013

A noted Jesuit peace activist who has spent over a decade in jail
for nonviolent protest actions, mostly over Fr. Steve Kelly, who has been on probation since June 2012 after
serving a 15-month sentence for breaking into a nuclear weapons
facility, was sent back to prison May 20 by a federal judge. Kelly, 64, was transported from the SeaTac Detention Center to the
United States District Court, Western District of Washington at Tacoma,
to receive the 60-day sentence. With time served, he is expected to be
released May 29. More than a dozen friends and supporters, including members of
Tacoma’s St. Leo parish community and his Jesuit superior Fr. John Fuchs, attended the hearing. Some also attended a vigil outside the
courthouse an hour before Kelly’s court appearance. Kelly was arrested March 29, Good Friday, for blocking a road outside
the Lockheed Martin missile plant in Sunnyvale, Calif. A trespassing
charge was later dropped, but he was taken into custody for an
outstanding federal warrant associated with probation violations.

nuclear weapons issues, has
been returned to prison for probation violations.

The Jesuit order, organized in the first half of the 16th century for combating Protestantism, never taught, let it be said, that any means, even though it be criminal from the point of view of the Catholic morals, was permissible if only it led to the “end”, that is, to the triumph of Catholicism. Such an internally contradictory and psychologically absurd doctrine was maliciously attributed to the Jesuits by their Protestant and partly Catholic opponents who were not shy in choosing the means for achieving their ends. Jesuit theologians who, like the theologians of other schools, were occupied with the question of personal responsibility, actually taught that the means in itself can be a matter of indifference but that the moral justification or judgment of the given means flows from the end. Thus shooting in itself is a matter of indifference; shooting a mad dog that threatens a child – a virtue; shooting with the aim of violation or murder – a crime. Outside of these commonplaces the theologians of this order made no promulgations.

In so far as their practical moral philosophy is concerned the Jesuits were not at all worse than other monks or Catholic priests, on the contrary, they were superior to them; in any case, more consistent, bolder, and perspicacious. The Jesuits represented a militant organization, strictly centralized, aggressive, and dangerous not only to enemies but also to allies.

In his psychology and method of action the Jesuit of the “heroic” period distinguished himself from an average priest as the warrior of a church from its shopkeeper. We have no reason to idealize either one or the other. But it is altogether unworthy to look upon a fanatic warrior with the eyes of an obtuse and slothful shopkeeper. If we are to remain in the field of purely formal or psychological similitudes, then it can, if you like, be said that the Bolsheviks appear in relation to the democrats and social- democrats of all hues as did the Jesuits – in relation to the peaceful ecclesiastical hierarchy. Compared to revolutionary Marxists, the social-democrats and centrists appear like morons, or a quack beside a physician: they do not think one problem through to the end, believe in the power of conjuration and cravenly avoid every difficulty, hoping for a miracle. Opportunists are peaceful shop. keepers in socialist ideas while Bolsheviks are its inveterate warriors. From this comes the hatred and slander against Bolsheviks from those who have an abundance of their historically conditioned faults but not one of their merits.Link (here) to read Leon Trotsky's evil Marxist rant Their Morals and Ours

After squaring off with biblical scriptures on whether or not Jesus
would approve, politicians in the House a recent report,
under the revised Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP),
Americans would now have to pass an income and assets test to become
eligible for the benefits. Republicans argue that fewer Americans should
qualify for the program because they receive benefits from other
programs. Approximately 2 million people would qualify for food stamp
benefits under the new rules. But before the changes were approved
with heavy Republican support, ex-Jesuit and Democrat from California
Rep. Juan Vargas turned the debate of the cuts into a theological
discussion by invoking biblical treatment of the poor in his argument
against the cuts. "Jesus kinda fools around and gives you
parables. He doesn't oftentimes say exactly what he means," said Vargas.
"But in Matthew 25 he's very, very clear. And he delineates what it
takes to get into the kingdom of heaven very, very clearly. And he says
how you treat the least among us, the least of our brothers, that's how
you treat him."

Agricultural Committee approved a
farm bill on Wednesday that cuts the federal food stamp program, which
supported 47 million people last year, by $2.5 billion annually. According to

Saturday, May 25, 2013

As president of the Jesuit Conference, which is
headquartered in Washington, Fr. Timothy Kesicki, S.J. will be responsible for
coordinating the activities of about 2,800 members of the Society of
Jesus. Kesicki said his latest assignment “comes at
a very exciting time for the church and the Society of Jesus here in
the U.S. and around the world.” “Clearly, the election of Pope Francis, the
first Jesuit pope in history, has highlighted the Jesuit vocation,”
Kesicki said.

“My hope is that since the pope is one of us, he will give
us a challenging mission and that I will be able to play a role in
helping to carry it out with renewed zeal and commitment to serving in
Christ's name here and around the world.”

Kesicki is scheduled to lead a spiritual retreat for priests in June at St. Paul Seminary in Crafton. Since being ordained in 1994, Kesicki has
served with the Jesuit Refugee Service in Adjumani, Uganda, and worked
in U.S. cities including Detroit, Cleveland, New York and Chicago, where
he serves as the provincial of the Chicago-Detroit Province of the
Society of Jesus.

Friday, May 24, 2013

Priest Josep Maria Bullich, S.J. attends a mass at the Cave of Saint Ignatius of Loyola in Manresa, Spain. Saint Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the
Company of Jesus, arrived in Manresa in March 25, 1522 after leaving his
sword and knife at the altar of Our Lady of Montserrat. He stayed in a
cave outside the town for 10 months. He spent hours each day praying and
working in a hospice. It was in that cave where he wrote the Spiritual Exercises, a compilation of meditation, prayers and contemplative
practices guiding to find God in all things that is one of the central
characteristics of Jesuit spirituality. Pope Francis has been the first
Jesuit elected as Pope.

Fairfield University
and Fairfield Prep are so tightly bound into Fairfield's fabric that it
seems like they've been here forever. In fact, having arrived in the
early 1940s, they're relative newcomers to our colonial town. How did
Fairfield end up with a centrally-located, 200-acre Jesuit campus? It's
an intriguing story of the dispersal of a prominent Fairfield family,
fortunes made and lost, and uncannily-timed, extraordinarily favorable
transfers of real estate. The Society of Jesus
has a centuries-long tradition of teaching. By the fall of 1941, there
were two dozen Jesuit colleges and universities in the United States.
But amid Fordham, Holy Cross and Boston College, the Jesuit New England Province envisioned a preparatory school and college in the greater Bridgeport area. The initial search for a suitable campus came up empty. But just then, word came that the heirs of Oliver Gould Jennings were selling Mailands, his 40-room mansion on 76 of the finest acres in Fairfield. In 1920, on the strength of an estimated $80 million fortune, Lashar built Hearthstone Hall, a lavish, 44-room English manor house
on 105 acres right next door to Mailands. But Lashar's fortune went up
in smoke in the 1929 stock market crash, and the few million dollars
that remained was hardly enough to support a Hearthstone Hall lifestyle.
After the real-estate taxes went unpaid for several years, the town
seized the property -- almost to the day of the Jesuits' Mailands
purchase. In early 1942, First Selectman John Ferguson approached the Jesuits with an offer they couldn't refuse. As reported in the April 1, 1942, Bridgeport Post, the Jesuits
snapped up the Hearthstone Hall estate for back taxes and some fees, or
$68,500. What could Ferguson have been thinking? Perhaps he didn't want the
town to be saddled with maintaining the deserted estate; perhaps he
foresaw the benefits of Fairfield becoming a college town. Whatever his
reasoning, the sale was widely considered a giveaway, and contributed to
Ferguson's failure to be re-nominated for another term. So, faster than you could say "Saint Ignatius of Loyola," the Jesuits
owned a splendid 180-acre campus and what would become McAuliffe and
Bellarmine halls. A few years later, for a stiff $28,500, the college
added the 18-acre Morehouse property on the corner of Barlow and Round
Hill roads. In 1989, an expanding Fairfield University acquired the Sisters of
Notre Dame de Namur convent, conveniently adjacent to the old Mailands
property. In creating the Dolan Campus, it became the indirect
beneficiary of the catastrophic decline of John Fox In the early 1950s, Mr. Fox, who once owned a controlling interest in
Western Union, bought a 47-acre estate, complete with a 21-room mansion,
which had been built for Oliver G.'s son, Lawrence. A costly adventure
in the Boston newspaper business brought Fox to total ruin, and the
Sisters took possession in 1959. Fox, a Harvard Law graduate and
once-powerful tycoon, eked out a living playing piano in Boston
waterfront bars until he died penniless and alone in 1985. The alternate fate of the grand estates from a past age that make up
today's Fairfield University complex cannot be known. What would
Fairfield be like if we had a corporate headquarters on North Benson
Road or a hillside full of McMansions instead? Who knows. But the
Jesuits, perhaps with some divine assistance, have delivered unto us a
cultural and educational asset and a driver of the town's economy. With
dissenting opinions duly noted from those of us enduring student
misbehavior in the beach neighborhood, I think we're the richer for it.

The university delayed announcement of the 2013 commencement speakers
until nearly the end of final exams, finally revealing a lineup that
some find underwhelming.
While those receiving honorary degrees Saturday are likely deserving,
the Georgetown community also deserves a selection process that is
transparent and timely.

Each of Georgetown’s schools has its own graduation ceremony and
commencement speaker. The process for securing speakers can take as long
as eight months, yet the university released the news May 9. Other
colleges announced their commencement guests months before graduation —
Howard University and The George Washington University in March, the
University of Virginia in January.

We have commended Georgetown in the past for finding speakers tailored
to each undergraduate school’s academic focus. Yet the university hurts
its cause by making these selections entirely in the dark. That is made
even worse when news of the speakers breaks hardly a week before
graduation, giving people little time to digest and appreciate the
choices. It would not be appropriate to have students vote on speaker options,
and the reasoning behind these choices as it currently stands might be
entirely sound. A simple explanation from the university of why
commencement speakers are chosen would benefit everyone involved.

Head of the Progressive Front coalition (FAP
in Spanish) Hermes Binner met with Pope Francis at the end “Here and there” by German Jesuit Florian Paucke who lived in the province of Santa Fe, run by Binner from
2007-201, during the 18th century. Following the meeting with the Pope, FAP’s head granted an interwiew
to Argentina’s media saying that Bergoglio's election to lead the
world’s 1.2 billion Catholics “is a great encouragement for the
Argentine society.” Although not a Catholic himself, Binner -who will be running for
office in October’s legislative elections-, considered the pontiff an
example for peace and a proof that Argentina can “come up” with “strong
leaderships.” After St. Peter’s audience, Francis’ agenda included also receiving
governor of the province of Chacho, kirchnerite Jorge Capitanich who
said the Pope sent his blessing to all Chaco’s people.
of the weekly
general audience in St Peter's square at the Vatican. The socialist leader handed ex Argentine cardinal Jorge Mario
Bergoglio a copy of the book Link (here) to the Buenos Aires Herald

Therewith she spewed out of her filthy maw
A flood of poison horrible and black,
Full of great lumps of flesh and gobbets raw
Which stunk so vilely, that it forced him slack
His grasping hold, and from her turn him back:
Her vomit full of books and papers was,
With loathly frogs and toads, which eyes did lack.

Wednesday, May 22, 2013

The Fine Gael
leader, who was awarded an Honorary Doctorate in law, proved a
particular hit among the graduates' parents, who delivered cheers of
support and laughter throughout. But it was his reference to a "strong Boston"
that garnered the loudest applause. Later in the day, two survivors of
the Boston marathon bombings, Brittany Loring and Liza Cherney, had
recovered enough to receive their postgraduate diplomas from the Carroll
School of Business.

Despite the positive response from the crowd,
Mr Kenny was initially welcomed by more than 40 pro-life protestors at the entrance of Boston College. Pro-life activists joined Boston Cardinal Sean O'Malley in boycotting the event due to Mr Kenny's stance on the Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill 2013.

John O'Donoghue, from Artane in Dublin, who was with the original pro-life amendment campaign in Ireland and is now living in Massachusetts,
said he was "shocked" at the Fine Gael leader's presence.

"I'm
absolutely shocked that a top Jesuit college would invite a man that is
supporting the abortion bill. (He) shouldn't be let inside the door
here."

But speaking about the abortion legislation issue, the
Taoiseach said: "As the head of government, I have a duty to stay with
the Constitution, which I have pointed out on many occasions.There
is no change in the legislation. The situation in our Constitution has
been endorsed on two occasions by the people, what the Government are
doing here is setting out clarity and legal certainty, which is intended
to save lives, not to end them."

Tuesday, May 21, 2013

Jesuit officials in Chicago will pay $19.6 million to settle a civil
lawsuit brought by six men who claim theyDonald McGuire, formerly of Oak Lawn, is serving a 25-year prison
term after being convicted in Chicago in 2008 of federal charges that he
brought a minor across state lines to engage in sex. He also was
convicted in 2006 of molesting two boys in Wisconsin during the 1960s. were molested by a former
priest and onetime spiritual advisor to Mother Teresa, an attorney for
the plaintiffs said Monday.

“The amount of the settlement is reflective of the magnitude of misconduct by the top Jesuit officials,” said Jeff Anderson, an attorney for the plaintiffs.

The $19.6 million settlement against the Chicago Province for the Society of Jesus was reached in January.

Officials for the Jesuit order — the Roman Catholic religious order
to which McGuire belonged — could not be reached for comment Monday
evening. The plaintiffs range in age from their 20s to their 40s, and claim
McGuire abused them when they were children between 1975 and the early
2000s, Anderson said. Some of the six plaintiffs were also victims in the criminal cases
against McGuire, and Anderson says evidence uncovered for the civil
lawsuits was turned over to prosecutors in Chicago and Wisconsin.

St. Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the Society of Jesus, should be ranked among those apostolic the ministry of salvation and taught the principles of holiness. Truly he was born to help men. God taught him much, and from these heavenly communications Ignatius composed his admirable book of Exercises. This work is exceedingly well fitted to direct souls in the paths of salvation and perfection, The clients of this great Saint then look upon him as a mediator and a patron in the important matter of eternal salvation, and as a guide and pattern in the dangerous paths of the spiritual life. The virtues of Ignatius, therefore, which are herr proposed for meditation, will be arranged in accordance with the three degrees of the spiritual life.

men who have exercised

Hence, the Saint will be presented as a bright model—first, in the purgative way; next, in the illuminative; and finally, in the unitive.

At the end some considerations will be added on the Saint's most precious death. Each meditation will be accompanied by a prayer to St. Ignatius, three of his practical sayings, an example, a practice, and an aspiration to be made frequently during the day. The meditations will be ten in number, in memory of the ten months which St. Ignatius spent at Manresa, amid great bodily sufferings and heavenly joys of soul. These meditations can be used for the ten Sundays, or for the nine days proceeding the Saint's feast; and for the feast itself, in order to secure his powerful protection and obtain the grace to imitate, in some degree, his wonderful virtues. The meditations will also serve to gain more largely and surely the plenary indulgences, which two Popes granted for the purpose of promoting and spreading devotion to St. Ignatius. By the brief "Splendor Paterna gloria," our most holy Lord, Gregory XV., granted a plenary indulgence to all the faithful, who, on the feast of St. Ignatius, after confession and communion, shall pray for the Pope's intention in a church of the Society.

Clement XIII. graciously issued the following:

Decree.

Plenary indulgence of the ten Sundays in honor of St. Ignatius of Loyola,

at the audience granted by the Holy Father, (January 27, 1767).

Moved by the humble prayer of Lawrence Ricci, General of the Society of Jesus, our most holy Lord, Clement XIII., kindly granted a plenary indulgence for all their sins to all the faithful, who, on ten consecutive Sundays before the feast of St. Ignatius, or on any other ten Sundays of the year, shall, with true repentance, confess their sins, go to communion, make pious meditations, pray or perform other Christian works in honor of the said Saint, and for the glory of God, and shall devoutly visit a church of the Society. This indulgence can be gained on any one of the ten Sundays. His holiness willed that this favor should hold good for all time to come.

Given at Rome, in the office of the Secretary of the Sacred Congregation of Indulgences,

Enda Kenny outlined his vision for a very different Ireland during a Dáil Éireann speech in July 2011 when responding to the publication of the Cloyne Report. Like earlier reports—Murphy, Ryan, and Ferns—Cloyne echoed the well established narrative of clerical child sex abuse and confirmed the Catholic hierarchy’s failure to report such abuse to the civic authorities. The Bishop in question observed the dictates of the Vatican rather than the law of the land.

But Cloyne was of a different order too. It detailed how the Vatican deliberately organized to frustrate an Irish State-commissioned inquiry into clerical child sex abuse as recently as 2009. In an unprecedented move, Mr. Kenny, a devout Catholic, entered the Dáil chamber, the seat of political power in Ireland, and called the Vatican to account. And, he declared the primacy of the State’s standards, not those of the Catholic Church, in all matters related to the protection of Ireland’s children.

The “Cloyne speech” represents a watershed moment because it encapsulates a new vision for the nation: This is the Republic of Ireland 2011. A republic of laws, of rights and responsibilities; of proper civic order; where the delinquency and arrogance of a particular version, of a particular kind of ‘morality,’
will no longer be tolerated or ignored.That “version … of morality” for too long masked a history of collective
abdication of responsibility for Ireland’s most vulnerable citizens. It
fed the open secret of abuse, abandonment and neglect in Irish society
as nation and State looked the other way and chose not to see what we
all knew happened in our midst. Mr. Kenny drew a line under that
history.

Link (here) to Irish Central the article by James M. Smith is an associate professor in the English Department at Boston College.

Monday, May 20, 2013

Michael Coren has a pretty good article over at Catholic World Report on Boston Cdl. Sean O’Malley’s “fundamentally different” from the prelate’s 2009 decision in the Kennedy funeral matter. Well, I deny Coren’s assertion that O’Malley’s decisions stand in contrast to one another and, while the burden is on Coren to demonstrate his assertion, I’ll mention a few points for my readers’ reflection.
decision not to attend Boston College’s commencement in protest against its invitation to Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny (another politician who’s Catholic when it’s convenient but pro-abortion when it counts) to deliver the main address. But Coren contrasts O’Malley’s decision in the Kenny commencement matter as

First, a commencement address and a funeral liturgy are canonically very different things. Anyone wishing to compare them must show first of all how an academic exercise is sufficiently like a sacramental of the Church to support any arguments resting on their alleged comparableness.

Now, I can point to a boatload of dissertations discussing the canon law of Catholic funerals, but I know of none on the canon law of Catholic commencement exercises; so one draws, therefore, analogies between commencement and funerals at one’s own risk. Second, and more to the point, O’Malley’s decision in the Kennedy funeral case was made, as I argued then and argue today, quite within the bounds of—nay, in compliance with!—the canon law on Catholic funerals.

Boston College Chemistry
professor Amir Hoyveda wrote a letter to the editor of the Boston
Herald, saying that he could "hardly imagine a more effective way to
denigrate the faculty of an educational institution."

Boston College pro-choice law students
have formed BC Law Students for Reproductive Justice. On their website
as of May 16, the Boston College pro-choice law students vow to "promote
awareness of reproductive issues in order "to ensure that future
lawyers will be prepared to successfully defend and expand reproductive
rights."

In a sense the professors and students
are continuing the tradition of the longtime proponent of abortion
rights, the late Rev. Robert Drinan, who was dean of Boston College Law
School for 14 years (1956-70) before serving in the U.S. House of
Representatives. While a congressman, Drinan could be counted on to vote
for increased access to abortion, just as earlier, while a dean, he had
helped counsel Catholic politicians on how to accept and promote
abortion with a clear conscience. In 2011, the Boston College Law School
held a symposium to honor Drinan.

Yet Cardinal O'Malley's refusal to
countenance the college's support for Prime Minister Kenny may be a sign
that things are about to change. In April, Pope Francis chose Cardinal
O'Malley as one of eight cardinals to advise him on running the church
and reforming the Vatican bureaucracy. This honor brings with it a
responsibility to ensure that Catholic colleges and universities are
faithful to the Catholic mission. The cardinal's Boston College boycott
is a good start.

Pope Francis’ early morning homilies in the Casa Santa Marta residence chapel — often under Monday, the Holy Father set the tone for the week leading up to Pentecost Sunday. He focused on the Holy Spirit who, he said, helps Christians remember the history of the faith and the gifts God has given. Without this grace, he said, the faithful risk slipping into idolatry. Many Christians don’t know who the Holy Spirit is or what He is, he said, and the Holy Spirit “is always somewhat ‘the unknown’ of the faith.” And yet, he continued, the Holy Spirit is “God active in us” and “awakens our memory” of how Christ redeemed us of our misery and sin.
reported — continue to challenge the faithful, and this past week was no exception. On

Without this memory a Christian is not a true Christian, but becomes an “idolator,” the Pope went on, a “prisoner of circumstance, a man or woman who has no history.” To remember the grace of God is especially important, he said, when, for example, “a little vanity creeps in, when someone believes themselves to be a winner of the ‘Nobel Prize for Holiness.”

The Holy Father concluded with an invitation to Christians to ask the grace of memory so that “they will not forget that they were slaves and the Lord has saved them.” On Tuesday, the Holy Father again mined the theme of idolatry, but also the selfishness personified by Judas. Selfish people like Judas do not understand what giving and love are and become traitors, isolated and alone, he said. But if we really want to follow Jesus we must “live life as a gift” to give to others, “not as a treasure to be kept to ourselves.” Judas “never understood what gift really means,” the Pope said, and this was clearly seen when he bitterly criticized Mary Magdalene for washing Jesus’ feet with expensive perfume, saying that it could be used for the poor. “This is the first reference that I personally found in the Gospel of poverty as an ideology,” the Pope said.

Sunday, May 19, 2013

Georgetown University's part-time faculty members have overwhelmingly
voted to form a union affiliated SEIU Local 500, which now represents more than three-fourths of the
adjunct work force at colleges in the District of Columbia. "This victory will help improve conditions at Georgetown, but because
we are joining adjuncts at other institutions across the region, the
implications go far beyond Georgetown," Kurt Brandhorst, an adjunct
instructor in the Georgetown philosophy department, said in an SEIU news
release announcing the results of the vote. The union election did not
cover adjuncts at the Georgetown University Law Center or the Georgetown
University Medical Center.

with the Service Employees
International Union, marking a major victory for the SEIU's effort to
organize adjunct instructors throughout the Washington, D.C.,
metropolitan area. Just under half of the 650 adjunct instructors eligible to vote on
unionizing at Georgetown did so, and more than 70 percent of voters
opted to form a collective-bargaining unit. With that vote, counted on
Friday, Georgetown is set to join American University and George
Washington University in having adjunct faculty unions affiliated with

The goal of the SEIU's regional organizing campaign
is to bring adjuncts at enough area colleges into the union to put all
colleges here under market pressures to improve adjuncts' pay, benefits,
and working conditions.

The SEIU also has unionized adjuncts at
Montgomery College, a public institution with campuses in three of
Washington's Maryland suburbs, and is considering campaigns at other
colleges in the area. Last month it began a similar regional organizing campaign in Boston, and it said it is considering another one in Los Angeles. The effort to organize adjuncts at Georgetown was made easier by the Roman Catholic university's decision not to oppose the campaign.
"They were not just neutral but very cooperative throughout the entire
process," Christopher Honey, a Local 500 spokesman, said on Friday in an
interview. "They really upheld their social values."

Saturday, May 18, 2013

Martin Sheen once recounted about the May 17, 1968 burning of draft
files in Catonsville, Md., by nine Dan and Phil Berrigan — broke into a draft office, stole files and publicly destroyed
them as an act of nonviolent resistance against war and imperialism,
the face of protest changed.

But the iconic images and audio from that
historic event were almost lost in the annals of history.unusual suspects to protest the
Vietnam War.

The Catonsville Nine, as they came to be called, marked the
beginning of dramatic new forms of antiwar resistance. When seven men
and two women — all Catholic, including two priests,

There are 79 private colleges with endowments of more than $250
million that charge low-income studentsWe
found 17—about eight percent of four-year Catholic colleges in the
U.S.—that had endowments larger than $250 million in FY 2010.Not
one of the 17 appears on Burd’s lists of most charitable colleges for
low-income students, measured by percent of students receiving federal
Pell Grants and the average cost of attendance (net price) for each
low-income student in the 2010-2011 academic year an average net price over
$10,000; 51 that charge over $15,000; and 26 that charge over $20,000. That prompted The Cardinal Newman Society to look specifically at Catholic colleges.

.The Jesuits’ Saint Louis University had an even larger endowment—more
than $700 million in FY 2010—and yet charged low-income students an
average of $23,842.And Boston College, with one of the
nation’s largest endowments of nearly $1.5 billion,still charged needy
students an average of $13,128.

But six wealthy Catholic universities appear on Burd’s list of
institutions with relatively low percentages of Pell Grant recipients
and high net price for the neediest students—including three Jesuit
institutions,despite the Jesuits’ traditional emphasis on social
concerns. At Santa Clara University in California, Burd reports, the average
price charged to low-income students was a whopping $46,347—more than150
percent of their families’ annual income.And yet Santa Clara’s endowment (more than $600 million) was among the largest 100 for private colleges in the U.S.

About Me

I am not a Jesuit, nor am I a cleric. I spent about 5 years under the spiritual direction of a Jesuit, 3 of those years in a weekly directed retreat in everyday life. The profound impact that the Society and the Excercises had upon my life, resulted in me, trying to deal with that impact in some way by sharing my view of Jesus Christ with others. My intention is to pull together Jesuitical and Catholic subjects that interest me. I was born on the feast day of St. Paul Miki, S.J.. I am the father of three small children and an infant, I am married to a great wife.